


Call of the Wilderness

by Mersheeple



Series: Hearts&Cauldrons Prompts [53]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Post-War, Rumours, Severus Snape Lives, Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-02
Updated: 2020-08-02
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:13:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 969
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25667239
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mersheeple/pseuds/Mersheeple
Summary: There were always rumours about him. Even this long after the War.
Relationships: Hermione Granger/Severus Snape
Series: Hearts&Cauldrons Prompts [53]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1805746
Comments: 20
Kudos: 91
Collections: Hearts and Cauldrons - Daily Prompts!, Hearts and Cauldrons Discord Members, Severus Snape Lives!





	Call of the Wilderness

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Viridiantly](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Viridiantly/gifts).



> I'm sorry...there is no Betty. But I hope this hits the right notes anyway...LOL

Severus Snape was hiding from adoring fans with his wife and six children. That was the rumour three months after the end of the War. When, precisely, they thought he had had time to sire six children she didn’t know, but that was the first rumour she heard when she attempted to find him to give him the medal that awarded him the Order of Merlin: First Class.

Severus Snape went to a tropical island somewhere, surrounded by beautiful women, beautiful fresh fruits, and beautiful beaches. At least, that was the rumour one year after the War ended. Of course, Hermione had known that was nonsense. With his skin type, he would have burned in moments and been miserable. Still, in her mission to deliver his Order of Merlin: First Class, she had followed the rumours. She had travelled first to Hawaii, thinking he may have chosen somewhere with a reputation for easy travel. She hadn’t found him there, and all her enquiries led her to believe that she would not find him anywhere in America at all.

Still, she had travelled to the Caribbean next, stopping off at both the larger islands and the smaller villages, mindful that they may not want to give her any information. It seemed, however, that they had no information to give her and she had returned to England, still carrying the medal, waiting for the next rumour to hit print.

Severus Snape was to be found in the Tibetan mountains, practising to become a monk. Or at least, that was the rumour two years after the War ended. He had shaved off all his hair to keep himself disguised. She didn’t believe a word of it of course, but it had come from a supposedly reliable source and so she had packed up her things and headed to Tibet. She had asked the trapas and been told that they had no knowledge of this man. She hadn’t expected it to be true but had asked at several different monasteries and been turned away from all of them. She had returned to England and given her friends a sad smile as she told them, no, she hadn’t found him this time either.

Severus Snape was living in the outback of Australia, feasting on kangaroo, and collecting venoms from various indigenous species, three years after the War. This had seemed like the most likely scenario of all and so, with a spring in her step and hope in her heart, Hermione had headed to Australia.

She had been disappointed when, after almost three months of travelling the outback, she had returned to England and been told there was another new lead. She had groaned, rolling her eyes, exhausted from three and a half years of near-constant travelling. She had put her whole life on hold just to find him though, and she would not be able to move on and live properly if she didn’t find him and so, she listened to the rumours once more.

Severus Snape was living like a savage now, in the middle of the Swiss mountains. No magic, no electricity, no human contact. Just him, his farm, and his goats. She didn’t believe it, of course. The most powerful wizard in existence, forsaking magic entirely and living on a mountain somewhere? It was patently ridiculous. A sighting of Severus Snape could give anyone their ten minutes of fame, ten minutes in the spotlight. Everyone wanted to know where the man who The Boy Who Lived classed as a “true hero” had taken himself after the war.

Still, she had travelled to Switzerland and climbed the mountains when the locals had directed her to a strange man living on a farm. On a farm, with goats. It seemed, at least, there was a strange man with no electricity, no human contact, living on a farm. With goats.

She approached the farm one evening, just as the sun was beginning to set. A shirtless man, with long dark hair and muscles born from having spent a lot of time doing back breaking work alone, stood with his back to her. She called out to him and he stopped dead still. She fancied he probably hadn’t heard a woman’s voice in so long that it had surprised him. And then he turned and she stopped still.

With an Adonis belt, a deep V of hair, and a waist so tight it looked like it had been crammed into a corset for shaping, the man in front of her was definitely, unequivocally, Severus Snape. He raised an eyebrow and she shivered slightly. He was potent, a picture in virility, and such a welcome sight that her heart skipped and her hands shook.

“You’ve been looking for a long time, haven’t you?” His voice was deep, huskier than before. It played on her nerve endings and she shivered against the warmth it invoked. She nodded as he approached her, watching as his lips quirked upwards.

“Did you ever think about giving up?” She felt like she was going to swallow her tongue as she shook her head. She hadn’t even considered it. He deserved the award. He deserved to know someone was thinking of him. He deserved thanks. He deserved…everything that no one had given him in the past.

“Sir, I… I wanted to…” She trailed off as he pulled her against him, dipping his head and pressing his lips against hers, kissing her like he was drowning and she was his life raft.

“After five years, you finally caught me. You almost had me in Australia you know? I hoped you would catch me eventually.”

She wrote a letter to Harry the very next day.

_I found him. Not coming home yet. It’s him. He is happy here. I could be too._


End file.
